As the title makes clear, Irish Children’s Writers and Illustrators 1986-2006
is a collection of essays about Irish children’s writers and illustrators at the
turn of the twenty-first century. Each of the thirteen chapters focuses on the
work of one author or illustrator, prefaced by a creamy title-page with eye-catching
reproductions of dust-jackets on one side and a comprehensive check-list of titles
in print on the other. The collection is beautifully presented: there are over
thirty pages of full-colour illustrations, the typeface is clear and large, with
wide margins, which allow for a great sense of space and for the addition of
notes and marginalia. Made for dipping in and out of, it is the kind of book that
librarians and booksellers keep behind the desk, that parents thumb through for
ideas, that teachers hold as an authority, an oracle they consult before class.
This book does what all books are meant to do - it actively encourages reading
by sending the reader off in search of other books.

This collection is clearly the product of a small, close community of authors
and academics - some of the contributors mention that they have personal
friendships with the writers and illustrators in question - and is born out of a
warm, self-assured commitment to the values that lie at the centre of that
community. Like all small communities this one is exclusive. Coghlan and Parkinson
lay down these terms of exclusion in their introduction, noting that “the so-called
boom [in Irish children’s writing] had more quantity than quality to it” and this
collection includes a carefully-selected handful of texts which “[reflect] the
best the Ireland had to offer and work that could stand scrutiny at an international
level.” As a result, some popular (and hugely commercial) authors such as Marita
Conlon-McKenna and Michael Scott are gently nudged out of the ring, and some
authors who have been largely forgotten by booksellers and readers alike are
ushered back in.

This collection is “a snapshot of excellence” - it is both commemorative and
celebratory. There can be no doubt that it lays down the framework for a canon of
Irish Children’s literature. Redford and O’Dea, for instance, provide enthusiastic,
sincere accounts of the merits of their subjects and pave the way for the
establishment of a readers’ canon - a canon of really good books. But a canon of
international and literary merit must be established through allusion to and
alliance with texts which we already identify as having canonical worth. Apart
from one rather pompous reference to Milton, these comparisons are largely successful.
Three of the contributors in particular, n Bhroin, Dunbar and Piesse, focus on
how their subjects fit into a cultural, historical and literary milieu, darting
from Said to Winterson to Kafka and from prejudice to translation to issues of
cultural identity. In challenging the limits of their subjects like this, these
contributors acknowledge that in establishing a canon of Irish children’s literature
we should not allow it to become a self-contained category. However, some of the
contributors do not seem to be interested, or aware, of the overall project of the
collection and discuss their subjects in personal rather than academic terms.

At this point, the cover-image of the collection deserves a mention. PJ Lynch’s
oil-painting of Gulliver in Lilliput makes for a striking and memorable image and
one which is particularly attractive for the student of children’s literature.
Reminding us of the adult critic galumphing among children’s texts, this image is
all about comparison and relativity. But while these disparities of interest and
perspective are playfully harmonised in Lynch’s painting, they are not reconciled
within the collection itself. The problem with this collection is that it falls
between two stools - the blurb on the back cover claims that it is, primarily, a
resource for students of children’s literature and, secondly, a handbooks for
parents, teachers, librarians and readers. The proposed readership is uncertain
and, to a certain extent, the authorship is uncertain too.

The essays were originally published as stand-alone articles in Inis
and Coghlan and Parkinson make it clear in the introduction that the collection
is “exactly equivalent to the series.” Here the essays remain very much separate
pieces - the creamy pages which divide up the chapters act as barriers to cross-criticism
and internal comparison. While contributors and editors are comfortable enough to
compare Eoin Colfer to Milton and Matthew Sweeney to Kafka, no-one compares Siobhán
Parkinson to Kate Thompson or P.J. Lynch to Niamh Sharkey. The editors’ introduction
establishes the social and cultural milieu from which these texts emerged but it
does not identify or analyse the trends and motifs which connect the various texts.
Coghlan and Parkinson assert that the unifying principle behind the collection is
a sense of “Irishness” - all the authors and contributors are “Irish by birth,
background or affiliation” - but an awareness of national and cultural identity
comes in many shapes and sizes and this “Irishness” ultimately fails to bestow
unity or coherence on the collection. Irish Children’s Writers and Illustrators
1986-2006 would have benefited from the inclusion of an editorial chapter
which could draw all of these authors and illustrators together clearly and definitively.

But while the lack of comparative analysis and firm conclusion is unsatisfying
from a student’s perspective, it certainly does not negate the merit of the collection
as a whole. It is an exceptionally beautiful book, and it is clear that a lot of
time and effort went into its production. The clear layout and the wide range of
topics and styles make it an enjoyable read and a useful addition to any bookshelf.
If this collection is more at home in the library or the classroom than on the
student’s desk then so be it.